Vehicle body wall construction



July 5 1932 v G. T'RAUTVETITER. 1,866,277'

VEHICLE BODY WALL CONSTRUCTION Filed may 28. 195o FIfCL Z 1N VEA/TOR. GEORGE TPAurVLTTER.

' l .l By

FIG.3 A ATTORNEY.

Patented July 5, 1,932

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE TRAUTVETTER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T EDWARD G.

BUDD MANUFACTURING- COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA VEHICLE BODY WALL CONSTRUCTION Application filed May 28, 1930. Serial No. 456,397.

The invention 'relates to vehicle bodies and more particularly to vehicle bodies in which the walls are made of large unitary stampings.

Heretofore, it has been proposed to make the entire side of the body from the front of the cowl to the rear-quarter out of a single unitary stamping including the door and window openings. In some cases, the stamping Athe die cost, by making a large portion of the side paneling of such a construction that it can be used interchangeably in the various types of bodies, yet without sacrificing the advantages of accurate door fits of the prior construction.

This object is attained by making the front door openings of the various types of bodies ofthe same size and by making the front stamping of an extent to entirely surround said door opening, and making the rear portion of the side wall as a1 separate stamping or stampings joined to this interchangeable stamping in substantially the plane of the rear edge of the front door opening.

The manner of the formation of the parts at their line of j oinder whereby to easily effect the final assembly joint also forms a feature of this invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 shows a side elevational view of a unitary side stamping for the forward portion of the body wall in accordance with the invention..

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are side elevations, respectively, of the entire outer side wall of a sedan type of body and of a coup type of body, each embodying the novel construction of the invention.

Fig. 4. is a detail sectional view of the construction through the B-C post of the sedan type of body.

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View through the rear door post construction of a coup type of body.

ig. 6 indicatesin longitudinal section a form of the joinder of the panels above and below the door openings.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 7-7 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, I have shown the outer face of the body wall as formed of the two integral stampings 10 and 11, each extending through the height of the body and flanged inwardly at the doors and window openings and at the top and bottom to form ahollow structure.

The front stamping 10, which may be interchangeably used with the various types of bodies is shown extending from the front of the cowl and rearwardly entirely around the front door opening. Its edge at the rear of the door opening is formed as an inwardly facing channel, the front side wall 13 of which forms thejamb face of the opening, and is rabbeted as usual, to receive the corresponding rabbeted edge of the door.

When used in the sedan type of body, the rear wall 14 of the channel is cut off to provide a shallow side wall extending inwardly to a depth substantially equal to the rabbet in the front wall. The rear stamping 11 of the sedan type of body likewise extends around the rear door opening and is formed at the B-C post with an inwardly facing channel construction similar to the channel at the rear edge of the front stamping, although of a width sufficient to snugly receive in telescopic relation therewith the outer portion of the channel of the forward stamping, and is joined thereto in final assembly by Vspot welding the side walls of the telescoping channels together.

Above and below the door openings, the front and rear panel stampings are joined together by a lap joint, as indicated in Fig. 6. By inwardly osetting the one panel stamping alongits edge and lapping the edge of the other over this offset portion, the parts may be secured by spot or seam welding, to provide a smooth joint with very little cleaning after the joint is made. The outer panel 40.. walls of vehicle bodies adapted to be interin the sedan type of body may be reinforced in the B-C post region in any suitable manner, as by the joining of deep outer side Walls 13 and 15 of the edge channels the front and rear stampings by crimping them over the edge of an inner panel stamping 16.

In the coup and coach type of bodies the front stamping is, of course, identical with the front stamping used in the sedan type, except that in these constructions .the rear side wall 14 of the channel at its rear edge is not out oft but extends inwardly to substantially the depth 0I" the body wall and is there joined to an inner reinforcing panel 17 by spot welding to an overlapping edge fiang of the inner panel. i

The rear panel 11 of the coup or coach type of body is formed at its front edge of angular configuration adapted to nest with the angle formed by the forward wall 13 and base 18 of the channel at the rear edge of the forward stamping, and is secured thereto by spot welding through the overlapping walls. The forward edge of the panel stamping 11',

, is also formed with a rabbet 19 to receive the door overlap. In the final assembly joint between the two stampings of the coup and coach types of body the joint above and below the door opening may be made similarly to that already described in connection with the sedan type of body.V

While I have herein described a specific embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A unitary panel stamping for the side changeably used with various types of vehicle bodies and extending entirely around a front doorway opening therein and anged inwardly in the margin ofthe doorway opening and at top and bottomto form a hollow structure and terminating substantially in the plane of the rear margin of said opening and provided with rear edge formations adapting it to be interchangeably secured to various types of adjoining body units.

2. A unitary panel stamping for the side walls of vehicle bodies, extending from the front of the cowl to the rear of a front door way opening and flanged inwardly around said doorway opening to form the jamb face of the door, said panel being formed in the rear margin of the doorway opening for interchangeable joinder with an adjacent unit of various types of bodies.

3. A unitary panel stamping for the side walls ofvehicle bodies extending entirely around a front doorway opening and flanged inwardly in the margins of said opening, and terminating at its rear margin in a portion of inwardly facing channel section in the real` signature.

' GEORGE TRAUTVETTER. 

